Louisville Baseball at No. 13 in USA Today Preseason Coaches’ Poll

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Louisville baseball team was ranked 13th in the USA Today preseason Top 25 coaches’ poll released on Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday’s poll marked the Cardinals’ fourth top 20 preseason ranking in 2014. Earlier this week, Louisville was ranked 16th by Perfect Game and 20th by Baseball America, while last month, the Cardinals were tabbed eighth by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. The Cardinals have earned preseason top 25 rankings in seven straight seasons under the direction of head coach Dan McDonnell.

The Cardinals return 19 letterwinners from last year’s squad, which won a school record 51 games, the program’s fourth regular season conference title in five seasons and hosted NCAA postseason games for the fourth time. Louisville capped the season by defeating No. 2 national seed Vanderbilt in the Nashville Super Regional to clinch the program’s second College World Series berth.

Louisville will open its season at the Homewood Suites Tournament hosted by The Citadel on Feb. 14-16 in Charleston, S.C. The Cardinals will kick off the 2014 campaign against West Virginia on Feb. 14 at noon ET at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. Louisville will begin its 36-game home slate on Feb. 19 at 3 p.m., ET at Jim Patterson Stadium against Eastern Kentucky.